Honestly I'm feeling a little guilt, or at least a twinge of remorse. I've been known to say that if I were going to spend money travelling, I wouldn't use it to take my family to Disneyland or the Pacific National Exhibition or something similar. I'd want them to see how other people live their everyday lives the same way we do, but differently. I'd like to take some history, some culture, something different than the over-commercial, consumer-driven theme parks that support a company that already makes way more money than I'll ever dream of in my lifetime, never mind a year. I'd felt so right saying it, and I believed in what I was saying. So, as soon as I do get a bit of money together, where do I go? West Edmonton Mall. Yeah. Feeling just a little hypocritical.
I'd visited West Edmonton Mall with my family when I was 12 and with my husband's family when I was 15. Both times I'd enjoyed it to no end and fervently vowed that I would come back. When we adopted our sweet Tawny, then added a few babies to the family with a gap of 12+ years, we decided that someday we'd take them all there on a holiday. Because honestly, there is something there for everyone, kids, adults, teens, tots and babies. That and Tawny, despite our best efforts, LOVES shopping. Thankfully, she's a sensible girl and always sets goals and seeks out sales and she works hard all summer to earn extra back-to-school shopping money. So, for better or for worse, hypocritical or not, as Tawny herself is now 15 and we knew that soon she would be working enough that going on holidays with her would be harder and harder, we planned a trip to West Edmonton Mall.
And man, did we enjoy it, each and every one of us!
Oliver's favorite part, I believe, was riding the tractor on a kiddie ride in Galaxyland. It was an older model that rode around in a slow, steady circle and he'd spend the entire time wrenching the steering wheel back and forth making deep, growly "rrrrroooom, rrrrrroooom" noises that made me laugh. Kids under two are free in Galaxyland, as are their chaperones (which are required when children are under a certain height) and I think Galaxyland may have bit off more than they could chew when Oliver first laid eyes on the tractor ride. So, while Scott watched Silas fly the planes on the ride next door, I spun around in circles over and over again next to Oliver on the tractor.
Silas enjoyed the airplane ride in Galaxyland, as I mentioned above, and he had a lot of fun in the waterpark. I was pleasantly surprised how much he loosened up when it came to playing in the water. He enjoyed seeing the monkeys and loved the lagoon and playing his own version of mini-golf (kind of marbles meets bowling!) but he LOVED, and I mean ABSOLUTELY LOVED the fish. For $30 we purchased a family pass to visit the underground aquariums as often as we wished in a day and I feel we definitely got our money's worth! There was a shark show, a turtle show - where divers fed them "charge" (chard), a touch pool with starfish and anemones and a pool with stingrays one could also pet (they're the softest, smoothest things ever!). In addition to the tanks, there was a penguin display, frogs and snakes and lizards and a giant bull frog. Actually, he loved these displays so much that Scott ended up buying him another ticket the following day so he could see them one more time . . . who'd a thunk that's what would appeal to him the most? Have to take the boy to Vancouver aquarium again soon!
Tawny's favorite part was probably a close call. Shopping I'd say, was extremely enjoyable for her. And man, the shopping was endless! I feel like I barely skimmed the surface as I was too busy keeping track of kids to really look around and get into shopping (in fact, I only spent $25 dollars on myself and this was to replace the only sweater I packed that Silas spilt Yop on before we even left home!). Not having such responsiblities and money burning a hole in her pocket, Tawny had no such inhibitions. Stores we never frequent, not being in our area, were there. Some stores were there two or even three times! Closely following the shopping would be the water park. Having a good friend to share it with probably made this much more fun for her! They spent at least six hours in this park!
Of course, they hit all the extreme slides meant for strong swimmers, but I also found that there was lots to do with young children too. There were two children's play areas, tubes that looked like figure eights and snowmen so you could ride tube rides as a group without worry, hot tubs with steps for children to sit on (so they didn't have to submerge completely) and the pool is beach-like in that it doesn't plunge immediately to four feet deep, but instead oh-so-gradually deepens so the little ones can play and run and jump in the waves with no danger or fear at all. All of these were really, really fun, but let me just touch on the newer children's water park. It was built similar to the new playground structures you see in parks everywhere today, with ramps and bridges, and a few slides. It went up quite a bit higher perhaps than a regular park structure, but it was quite safe. The neat thing was that it had big taps and wheels and hoses and buckets that tipped, sprinklers and attached water guns and there was water everywhere! You could tip buckets onto others manuallly, others tipped by themselves. There was so much to to and it was so much fun! I think the parents accompanying their children had as much (or more!) fun than their children! To top it all off, literally I suppose, for it was at the very tip top of the structure, there was a giant bucket, I'd guess four feet in diameter but I'm not sure, that filled with water by itself, then tipped itself over pouring out in a big rush onto the roof and splashed ALL OVER. It was exciting and wet and fun! You can tell we really enjoyed ourselves there! I'd guess that was my favorite part of the mall, although perhaps I didn't realize it until now.
Scott also had some fun. He really cherishes time spent with his children, especially Tawny as he really feels the time slipping away quickly with her. I think he enjoyed spoiling his kids, letting Silas buy a gumball from the machine each time we passed, taking Tawny and her friend mini-golfing. He also tried out the Segway carts on a little course - which was kind of funny, but also interesting! - and shot some kind of pistol in the shooting range. We went on a few roller coasters and other rides too. We also had a date night! One of the advantages to staying right in the hotel was that we were perfectly comfortable wandering around the mall late at night while Tawny held down the fort. We went to a piano bar and had some appies and drinks (I tasted alligator!) followed by a movie in the theatre. First date in a looong time and I'm happy to report it went very well. Even after all these years of parenting, we still have other things to talk about than just our kids lol!
Finally, before I close this post, I just want to say how glad I am that we chose to stay in the Fantasyland Hotel, located right in the mall. It was a bit more expensive, but in our case, so worth it! The mall is full of fountains, which is very nice and makes for some interesting walks, but it also makes the mall a very noisy place and with people talking, and music, and animal shows, not to mention noises from rides and the pool etc that mall is VERY loud. It's exhausting! Having a quiet place to retreat was a lifesaver. Also, two days is not a long time to spend there. We didn't want to waste any time! Having immediate access to the mall was appreciated, as well as a place for the boys to nap that didn't require a long walk, or worse, any kind of driving, was extremely convenient. I will definitely stay there again!
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